panel that talked about jobs and getting veterans back into the work force, and the chairman of the joint chiefs, general dempsey, was there. so it was a great few days, and congratulations to the foundation for putting some great events together, and, of course, nothing better than a saturday win by navy, right, jon? [laughter] jon: army beat navy except in the score. jenna: we have a little rivalry here, but it was a good game. jon: sad ending. felt bad for the army. good job. thanks for joining us. jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert on a presidential speech that is supposed to be about raising taxes, but instead is raising ugly new questions about questionable government spending. welcome to "america live," everyone, i'm megyn kelly. the president is in detroit, michigan, at this hour touring a daimler auto plant. the appearance is part of an attempt to pressure republicans to accept his plan to both raise

taxes and add billions in new stimulus spending. but literally just a few miles away an embarrassing story is developing with a company the taxpayers put a lot of dough into. it's called a123. that's a car battery maker. they supply batteries for electric cars. that filed for bankruptcy after burning through almost $200 million of your stimulus money. here is the president praising that company in happier times. [applause] >> i am calling to congratulate a123 systems on this tremendous milestone. as you said, thanks to the recovery act, you guys are the first american factory to start high-volume production of advanced vehicle batteries. megyn: well, today we're learning that this battery company is being purchased by the chinese. that same company that burned all that stimulus money is now in the hands of the people who

loaned us some of the money that the federal government had in the first place. chris stirewalt is our fox news digital politics editor. all right, let me just start with the politics of this, chris. why on earth would the president choose to go to detroit, michigan, today on all days when literally just a couple miles from where he's speaking the chinese are buying one of the worst examples of the stimulus money failing, this company? >> well, i bet if they'd have known, if the president and the white house would have known that today would be the day that that would be in the news, they'd have picked someplace other than detroit and especially just the next neighborhood over, the next township over from the location of this plant that 170 some odd million dollars helped build that plant. the president said this a123 would be leading the american economy for years to come. yes, i'm sure that if they had this to do over again, they'd be someplace other than in the town next door. megyn: so we gave them $249

million stimulus grant, call it 250 because it's easier to just -- okay. so call it $250 million. they spent 332 million of it -- 132 million of it. they couldn't spend the whole thing because they were failing so miserably, it was clear it wasn't going to happen. so they spent 132 million of it including to build two detroit-area factories, and now they've gone under. the chinese are swooping in and buying this company, and that $132 million of the stimulus money that was spent to build up whatever, whatever battery-making facilities and abilities they had, that's all going to go in the hands of the chinese? >> right. that's all, that's all going away, and as a nice added irony in all of this, what have money we borrowed from the bank of china to finance whatever part of the grant that was given to a123 batteries, we still have to pay that back. the taxpayers are still on the

hook for baying back the deaf -- paying back the deficit-spending portion of that money even though it's now long, long gone. megyn: so we borrowed from china so that we could offer stimulus. we gave part of the stimulus to a123. a123 spent $100 million plus of the money, failed to succeed, and now that, those assets are going to china too. >> well, when you say it that way, megyn, you make it sound like it's not very much fun, i mean, my gosh. [laughter] megyn: china makes out well in this deal. i don't know about the american taxpayer though. >> they're doing pretty well in all of this. and the problem for the president today is his whole idea is i'm going to go to detroit and talk about how my economic strategy is working and that what we need to do is increase taxes on the top earners so that we can take that money and stimulate the economy. and as he says, invest in the middle class. and as he says, keep the tax rates down for those middle class folks and also engage in

the kind of stimulative spending that says will allow daimler to make an investment -- a german company -- to make an investment in the united states. it is most unfortunate timing that it comes just as this whole china debacle is playing out next door. megyn: you know what the white house always says whenever the, you know, press zeros in on a failed stimulus attempt, and it usually involves a green energy company that they tried to put money into to sort of prop them up, and then the market said, no, no, we still want our suvs, we want our gas guzzlers, and we know it's bad for the environment, but we love 'em. and they're so big, and they hit so many kids. but whatever, the white house responds by saying it's like anybody's investment portfolio, you've got winners and losers. and, you know, we tried, and they're not all going to be great and, of course, the press is going to focus on the ones that lose, and i imagine they would say this is another example of that happening. >> this is true. that's what they will say. the problem for the president is that the losers are very famous,

and they're very notable. solyndra, and we've had solar firms, other solar firms, a123 battery is now famous because of the china sale going on right now. so for the president whatever he says about the unfairnesses of being judged by these failures, the truth is they stick out so much, and the president can say that over time the money that was given to other firms, other green firms is going to pay off and be a great success story. a failure of this magnitude, and it's such a politically-inconvenient time and geographic allocat going to stick out a lot more than a future success. megyn: do they change the name from a123 to, you know, like the chinese character? [laughter] >> i'm not familiar with their naming plans just yet, madam. megyn: we'll wait to see. thanks, chris. >> you bet. megyn: well, that battery maker, a123, is not the only item being scooped up by chinese investors. there's also a $4 billion bid to buy a big stake in an american

company that leases jets, and that is just part of a multibillion dollar buying binge here for the chinese. coming up, lou dobbs on this buying binge, what the chinese are going after here in the united states and why. ♪ megyn: well, back in washington the speaker of the house today said he is waiting for a new proposal from the white house in the negotiation over how to best deal with america's debt crisis. both sides might want to check out the results of a new poll from politico. it, they polled 1,000 registered voter, and that poll shows that 76% favor government spending being cut across the board. that's more than three times the number who oppose the idea. lawmakers need to come up with a plan by december 31st, but you know what usually happens when you poll the people, they say, yes, i do. how about any program that you support? oh, no, not social security, not medicare, not medicaid, not veterans' benefits, nothing that

relates to me or or my people at all, but, yes, any program involving somebody else we need to cut. we'll continue to follow that. fox news alert now on new details after this colorado doctor is rescued from the taliban in a daring mission that cost the life of one u.s. navy seal. the seal, whose name we are just learning today. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with more. jennifer? >> reporter: hi, megyn. well, fox news has learned the identity of the u.s. navy seal who died during a daring rescue of an american doctor in eastern afghanistan. petty officer first class nicholas d. check, age 28, of monroeville, pennsylvania. he died of combat-related injuries suffered december 8th. he was assigned to an east coast-based special naval warfare unit. he was a member of the vaunted seal team six, the unit that carried out the raid against usama bin laden. he is not believed to have been a part of that mission.

the mission that he was part of was the's rescue and to save the life of dr. dilip joseph, a doctor who was kidnapped last wednesday with two afghan colleagues while returning from kabul. the medical team worked for a nongovernment organization. dr. dilip's two afghan colleagues had been released by the kidnappers after three days of negotiations. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, general john allen, gave the orders to send u.s. special operators from seal team six to rescue dr. joseph when it was thought his life was in danger. the rescue occurred early sunday morning. president obama and defense secretary leon panetta responded to the news that a u.s. service member was killed during the rescue. quote:

>> reporter: megyn? megyn: absolutely. jennifer, thank you. well, new complaints today after union members picket a fundraiser for prostate cancer research. the union workers were complaining about the cable company executives who attended the fundraiser, but was this really the right place to do that? and growing controversy after president obama shakes hands with the south korean singer whose music video just became the most watched in the world. but before this guy was a global sensation, it turns out -- and it surfaced last week -- that he made news with very angry, very

anti-american rants about, quote, killing the yankees in response to the war in iraq and another issue. we will debate whether the president might want to take back that handshake and whether the singer's apology makes up for what he said in the past. ♪ twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligatio. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

megyn: fox news alert on a critical hearing in what was a global scandal. former imf president dominique strauss-kahn was accused of sexually assaulting a maid in a new york city hotel room back in 2011. remember this? after problems cropped up with her story, according to the prosecutors, the da's office dropped all charges in the case. but she pressed ahead with the civil suit. well, there is a hearing in about 45 minutes that may announce both sides have arrived at a settlement. we'll bring you that news as it

happens. ♪ speak speak tongue -- [speaking in native tongue] [laughter] megyn: remember that ad? that's from the 2010 midterms from the group citizens against government waste, and it made a bunch of headlines at the time. recently, china has been on a spending spree buying up american assets. at the top of the hour, we told you about a123 that the feds gave over $100 million to you and now china's buying the company, and we're now told

aig -- another company that got a cash infusion -- is selling its jet-leasing business to a group of chinese financial firms. earlier this year the biggest take over of an american company to date, amc entertainment, going to china for $2.6 billion, and in january of this year the chinese company cinepec bought a one-third stake in five u.s. shale oil and gas fields. in fact, china has spent some $17 billion buying u.s. companies up in just the last two years. joining me now to discuss it, lou dobbs, host of lou dobbs tonight on the fox business channel -- network. lou, good to see you. china's holding of u.s. debt, too, has increased by over 50% in the course of president obama's presidency, so they own -- they already own about 33% of our -- 21% of our treasury securities, or at least they own most of the foreign ownership. >> they're the largest foreign holder of u.s. debt.

megyn: thank you. okay. so on top of that, then their ownership of our debt has increased more than 50% over the past four years. is this a good thing? we need somebody to be buying us up. [laughter] >> well, good or bad, we are desperate borrowers, desperately looking for those who will buy our debt. because this nation depends on debt. 46 cents out of every dollar we have to borrow now for just the federal government. megyn: first we go to ourselves, right? first we go to american citizens and say would you like to buy some of america, and then we'll pay you back when we can? so we're number one, but china number two in terms of owning u.s. debt? >> the largest foreign holder, 22% of treasuries, over a trillion dollars they're holding. this does not include, of course, what they're holding in hard reserves of our currency. we are looking at a behemoth in the making. china is taking on our debt because of that immense amount of debt that they hold, our

debt, they are now moving as we expected they would years ago, they are now moving aggressively to invest direct he. rather than simply invest in the stock market or the debt market, they are looking for direct opportunities into which they can invest that money. they found it, as you mentioned, in a battery company, a123. you know, we put in a couple of hundred million -- i say we put in, mr. obama put in. a couple of hundred million dollars of our money, now they're buying that company on the cheap because of of the r&d money that was invested by the federal government. they are buying up housing at a time when, obviously, the housing market's devastated -- megyn: to give our viewers the numbers on that, according to the national association of realtors, nonamerican buyers accounted for 82 billion in home sales, more than 7 billion are by the chinese. here in america, they're buying high-end, multimillion -- >> those darn canadians.

megyn: and they're paying cash for them. again, they're focusing in large part on states hit hard by the recession and foreclosures. so we sit around and say the chinese are buying everything, but we need somebody to buy it. >> no question about it. it is part of the deal that we have made, good or bad or even, perhaps, worse than people imagine. these foreign holders of our debt are looking for direct investments. they're doing so in companies, you mentioned aig. we've just seen a deal in the canadian oil shale, the oil sands close. a company, a canadian company, nexon. the chinese overseas oil company, offshore oil company as it's called put $15 billion and bought up the whole thing in canada. this as canada's been working hard to privatize their economy, here a foreign government is coming in to buy up assets in their economy. megyn: why is this something americans need to be concerned about? i mean, we started with that ad which was very controversial,

and it was meant to be provocative, and it was. >> sure. megyn: and that would certainly paint us as getting owned by the chinese, and that's an ominous day, but what are the real risks to americans in having the chinese start to buy up so much of our assets? >> you know, at this point it is not a threat, and it is not something that people should get excited about, but it is a very clear statement that right now our fiscal policy, our immense debt in this country, corporate debt, private debt, household debt and, of course, our government debt at every level, local debt, municipal, reflected in the municipal bond market to the 16 plus trillion dollars of national debt, this is a statement that we are so in the debt that right now we are piece by piece turning our destiny over to other investors whether it be canada buying homes, whether it be china buying homes or the largest, the largest competitor economically we have which is china coming in to buy

up houses in miami -- megyn: and it weakens our negotiating position with china. >> absolutely. but it's also part of a flee trade -- free trade future that we've been told will come to pass for 20 years now, but it has not. and point of fact, china still maintains rigorous, strong, difficult hurdles to free trade, tariffs at their shores and is taking advantage of our rather welcoming, some say naive attitude toward foreign investment. megyn: quick question. where are they getting all their money from? >> well, in good measure, from us. megyn: why are they doing so well, and we're doing so poorly? >> because they make things, they have an economy that is just booming. they're engaged. there's been an immense knowledge transfer, the largest in history. the chinese operate 3500 companies in this country that have one person, and that is to acquire by stealth, by guile and

perhaps other means our technology secrets, our industrial secrets, our military secrets as well. and the result is a booming, booming economy. megyn: wow. >> that is making progress by leaps and bounds. megyn: lou dobbs, thank you. >> great to be with you. megyn: well, also this hour, a powerful union in new york now being slammed for its display of defiance after it decides to air its grievances outside a benefit for cancer research. plus, just ahead why a video starring this guy is the hottest thing on the internet today. don't go away. [ malennouncer ] it's tt time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you realldon't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it findone, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all youeed is a magic carriage.

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♪ megyn: well, a federal judge in north carolina today ruled on a controversy over license plates in that state. judge james fox said the state's offering of a choose lifelines plate is unconstitutional unless

the state also offers similar plates to pro-choice supporters. the ruling came after the aclu filed a lawsuit complaining about the choose life plates. ♪ megyn: well, in new york a group of union members are now under fire for the way they decided to challenge their company. staging what many critics are calling an inappropriate protest outside of a fundraiser benefiting cancer research. trace gallagher has more. trace if. >> reporter: the event was actually held at the hard rock café, megyn, in times square. it was named after a cablevision former executive who died of pancreatic cancer back in 1999. this event has raised millions and millions of dollars for cancer research. well, the ceo of cablevision, his name is james dolan, he and his rock band actually played at this event. well, the communication workers of america, which is in contract negotiations with cablevision, thought that the cancer fundraiser would be a good place to hold a protest, and so they

showed up to call the ceo names like scrooge, greedy, pretending to be afully an throe pis, accusing him of trying to look good for the community. well, it turns out the fundraiser you see there, and you can see the protests, it was attended by many, many cancer survivors, and many of them thought the union actions were despicable with one saying, and i'm quoting here: the survival rate -- speaking of pancreatic cancer -- is so low, it is one of the least-funded cancers. it's hard to understand why people would protest an event like this. the union, of course, beliefs hardball tactics are sometimes necessary to get what they want. we contacted the union, they have not yet given us a statement about this, but needless to say, they didn't gain a lot of support by showing up at this cancer fundraiser and protesting. megyn: did you have to walk through their protest in order to attend this thing? >> reporter: well, yeah. i mean, they were letting people through, that's our

understanding, but they were standing outside, and they were screaming at the ceo, mostly aimed at james dolan, saying that he was greedy, and his band was playing. so, i mean, that's not all -- you look at the signs there. there are people kind of walking by there. they weren't stopping people from attending, they were just making it very clear what their stance on this was. megyn: all right. trace, thanks. >> reporter: okay. megyn: well, coming up, a group of chrysler workers got national attention two years ago when a tv news crew caught them drinking and smoking pot on the job. do you remember this tape? chrysler took quick action to dismiss the union members who were clearly working while intoxicated, and the story ended there. until we got a jaw-dropping update today on what the bailed-out automaker did to finally resolve this issue. you will not believe this. and brand new word from the intel community suggests america's days as the world's sole superpower are numbered. we'll tell you why and who could

be next. and this south korean rapper seen smashing a toy american tank just played at the white house christmas party. the controversial fallout over that decision and what he said, next. >> our men and women are willing to sacrifice their lives for you, for me, for the freedoms that we enjoy every single day just as my son did, and then we have someone like this individual who has called for the murder of our troops and our families being in a place of honor? that's disgusting. you won't take my life. you won't take our future. aids affects us all. even babies. chevron is working to stop mother-to-child transmission. our employees and their families are part of the fight. and we're winning. at chevron nigeria, we haven't had a reported case in 12ears. aids is strong. aids is strong. but we are stronger. and aids... ♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. ♪

megyn: new controversy today over the obama administration's decision to invite south -- well, to have south korea's rapping sevennation psy -- sensation psy perform for the first family. he has become an international phenomenon but has recently gained notoriety for an anti-american song back in 2002 in which he sang about killing all the yankees slowly and painfully. there were calls for psy to be uninvited from the annual christmas in washington benefit. instead, he was greeted personally by president obama himself. joining me now, brad blakeman, former deputy assistant to president bush, and dick harpootlian, chairman of the south carolina democratic party. so i just want to -- i'm not sure the way we phrased that, the obama administration's decision to invite him, because

the white house says they weren't the ones who invited him at all, but they didn't step in to stop it or object to it in any way after it emerged that he had gone on this rant eight years ago, and it is a disgusting rant, and i think most of the viewers would agree that, you know, calling for the troops and their families to be killed slowly and painfully is controversial at best. now, he did issue an apology, but what should the white house have done, brad? >> well, i know something about this because as somebody who scheduled the president of the united states, george w. bush, the white house celebration is an event that is typically on every president's calendar. but that doesn't mean the president has to attend and has carte blanche over the producers or the producers or have carte blanche over the president as to what he will do and who he will appear with. we had vetting and research at the white house when i was there, and i would have picked this up and said, hey, by the way, this sensation is somebody who did a rap against american

troops and called for their deaths. and i know andy card would have said you tell them if they want the president, then kick this guy off the program. he would not have appeared with this performer. the president should not have appeared with this performer, and he should have given an ultimatum, and i would have pulled his visa and kicked him out of the country. megyn: the reason he was invited is what we're seeing screen right. it's now the most-watched video ever on youtube which is really saying something. it's a very catchy tune, it's an interesting video, and that's probably why he was invited, dick, but did he need to be disinvited after of the thing from 2002 emerged? >> well, i think the first thing to understand is this is not an event put on by the white house or the government. it's put on by the children's hospital in washington, d.c. to raise money for children's hospitals. it's held at a museum, it's not held at the white house.

it's totally independent of the president or the white house. and, brad, this guy -- i gotta tell you, i'm not a fan of rap, i'm certainly not a friend of korean rap -- megyn: not even this song? the current song, "gangnam style," is very catchy. >> well, maybe, maybe, megyn, that's the difference between my age and your age. i don't find it quite that catchy. [laughter] um, it's -- matter of fact, i find it extremely irritating. i think they're probably playing this at guantanamo bay to break some of the folks -- [laughter] if i had to listen to this for 24 hours, i'd tell them whatever they want to know. all joking aside, this is a tempest in the teapot, whatever you want to call it. and, brad, you know, you may have scheduled president bush, and you may have thrown this guy out of the country, but, you know, there's a new guy in town, and he's -- >> yeah, the apologist, and the person who -- >> no, no, not an apologist. >> -- wants to share the stage with somebody who called for the

torture of american troops. if you don't know the difference, i feel sorry for you. because this guy, a korean, sang a song in korea about the death and torture of americans. and guess what? >> please. >> tens of thousands of americans keeping koreans safe. megyn: the translation online, and this is taken with a grain of salt, but online the translation is kill those f-blank yankees who have been torturing iraqi captives. kill those f-blank yankees, kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law, kill them all slowly and painfully. >> two things. one, we're not sure that's correct -- megyn: well, he came out and apologized, dick, so he definitely said something along those lines. [laughter] >> he said something bad ten years ago. you know, one of my favorite artists has a song called cat scratch fever, ted knew gem, who says terrible things about president obama, but i'd still go to a ted nugent concert,

brad, and, please, don't feel sorry for me. megyn: you'd go, but would you advise your president to host him or at least would you advise -- >> not host him, go to the concert? go to the concert? sure. megyn: here's the thing that jumped out at me, brad, you tell me. there was a petition on the white house's we the people web site that demanded president obama try to rescind the invitation, and that petition was taken down under the site's moderation policy with a note saying it was, quote, in violation of our terms of participation. so folks who objected to him performing had their opposition silenced by whoever runs the white house's we the people web site. >> i mean, this is an, this is an outrage. for the president of the united states who's the commander in chief and represents every man and woman in uniform to appear with this guy and to shake his hand and give the appearance that he condones this type of entertainment -- >> oh, brad. >> -- outrage to everybody who

serves in uniform, because this guy made money off the lyrics which called for the torture and death of men and women in uniform. for you to stick up for this guy, you know, freedom of speech -- >> whoa, whoa, whoa, brad, i'm not sticking up for this guy. megyn: quickly, dick. >> i'm just saying this is a them possess in a teapot. we've got so many things that matter, and we're consuming five minutes of time talking about this pony-hopping rapper -- >> because it shows the lack of judgment of a president of the united states who should know better. >> oh, come on. megyn: he's issued a lengthy apology issued two days before the performance after the controversy started. he said i'm a proud south korean, and i was educated in america. lived there for a very significant part of the life, i understand the sacrifices of the american servicemen and women, i made these comments as part of a deeply-emotional reaction to the killing of iraqis, and it was part of the overall anti-war sentiment shared by others, but

he says he deeply regrets the inflammatory and inappropriate language he used. we're taking your thoughts on it on twitter. follow me @megyn kelly. brad, dick, good debate, as always. >> thanks. megyn: after major protests in the birthplace of organized labor, there are reports that president obama will use part of his speech in detroit today to take the side of unions in the explosive right-to-work fight that is emerging in michigan. they're saying this could become the next wisconsin in terms of the uniitem battles. -- on union battles. how the rules there just changed and why. plus, why folks are saying this is the best video you will see all day. >> there's a group of people around, and a little thing on the ground, at first i didn't know what kind of animal it was, and i was like, oh, my gosh, that's a monkey. anncr: some politicians seem to think medicare and...

social security are just numbers in a budget. well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible... solutions that strengthen medicare and... social security for generations to come. we can do better than a last minute deal... that would hurt all of us. megyn: well, kelly's court is back in session. on the docket today, the radio deejays who prank called the

duchess of cambridge's hospital. a nurse at that hospital was reported dead late last week of an apparent suicide. just days after she transferred that prank phone call to kate middleton's nurse, apparently, and obviously not realizing that it was a joke. now the australian deejays behind the prank call are off the air after offering some tearful explanations as to what went wrong. >> unfortunately, i remember that moment very well, because i haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened, and i remember my first question was, was she a mother? >> when she found out that she was, of two children, how did -- >> very sorry and saddened for the family, and i can't imagine what they've been going through. >> and what about you, michael? >> gutted, you know? shatter ored. heart broken.

it wasn't about trying to fool someone, i mean, we just assumed that with the voices that we put on, you know, we were, we were going to get told off, and that was the gag. >> there is nothing that can make me feel worse than what i feel right now and for what i feel for the family. we're so sorry that this has happened to them. megyn: despite the apology, do they or their radio station face a possible lawsuit here? joining me now, lis wiehl who's a fox news analyst, and mark ig ig -- eyeing eiglarsh who's oohe attorney. there's a question about whether the radio station could get sued for defamation for replaying this over and over again, you know, making the nurse look bad, and then there's the real question which is could there potentially be even a wrongful death lawsuit against this, this radio, these radio hosts or their station?

lis, let me start with you on any and all of that. >> it's possible. here is what they'd have to prove, foreseeability, that the radio station and/or the deejays could have foreseen that this hoax, this horrible hoax went completely awry, could have resulted in death or something akin to death. it reminds me, megyn, of the bullying cases we've talked about where you get on the computer, and you bully and bully and bully. yes, there's a first amendment right, but at a certain point, there's a time, manner and place restriction on the first amendment. it could be possible here, though maybe not likely. megyn: if you are going to charge this radio station or these deejays, accuse them in a civil court of wrongful death of this nurse, mark, then you are going to have to accuse every television program, every news anchor, every radio deejay across the world who replayed it and had a laugh over it. was everyone supposed to know that this nurse was likely to kill herself because she'd be so

embarrassed about what happened? >> absolutely not. this, to me, is so not reasonably foreseeable that i'm waiting for them to come out and say, we're just kidding. she really didn't kill herself. because i can't believe that this actually happened. i think a juror, any juror, any reasonable juror would agree. this was not reasonably foreseeable. nobody even thought that they'd get through, and so to hold them responsible, quite frankly, is -- would be irresponsible and also, i think, curtail our freedom of speech. megyn: lis, i know that now that this nurse has taken her own life, and she was a mother according to the reports -- >> it is a tragedy. megyn: hind sight is 20/20. and, i mean, how were these deejays to foresee that a nurse who was -- i mean, practical jokes and things happen all the time, and now all the naysayers will say for shame, for shame, it's inappropriate. how are -- i mean, really? you foresee that the woman's going to take her own life over a prank that resulted in no harm

to anyone? >> no. i mean, it's really a hard case to make. i'm just saying that is the legal standard they would have to show, and it's very hard. i'm assuming there are a lot of ore things going on in this nurse's life other than this prapg call, but mac kind of made -- mark kind of made my call for me. they didn't think it would get through, they thought they'd be hung up on, and that would be it. clearly, that's not what happened. megyn: with all due respect to that nurse, she made an error. >> without question. megyn: she did something she shouldn't have done. >> where lis and i part company is her bringing up these bullying cases. that's completely without merit. those bullying cases, it is reasonably foreseeable that the frail teenager or the person who hasn't come out yet will eventually take harm to himself. this, a grown nurse who was pranked by a deejay? >> pranked and put on national air, international air. megyn: lis, obviously, this nurse had mental issues -- >> right. separate from what was going on. exactly. megyn: a sound person would not

take their own life after being, yes, publicly embarrassed, obviously, publicly embarrassed. she didn't con sent to this, she was fooled, she didn't do anything wrong or with malice, but the reaction was so extreme, what court of law would ever hold the radio station responsible for it? >> a sound individual would have maybe sued in a civil court at the most, and that would have been it because of the embarrassment, the emotional distress and all of that. >> and so, what's the answer then? no more pranks in our society? none at all? no more free speech? >> they can be carried to an absolute extreme. >> that, i agree, but this was not that example. this was tragic and very regrettable, but not their responsibility. this is on her. megyn: last question i want to ask you. any chance that the duchess, kate middleton, can sue the radio station over obtaining -- [inaudible] information about her condition under false pretensions? >> right. that's there. exhibit a is -- >> no. >> yes. no, mark? >> if anyone's responsible, it's

the hospital. and the good that comes out of this is, obviously, the protocol in vetting and/or screening the calls needs to be improved. megyn: interesting. i don't know. i mean, she's not going to, let's face it. she's not going to sue the hospital. i'm sure they would like to put this behind them. i think she might have -- >> i think so too. you've got mother-in-law on the phone, saying -- >> let her look at the hospital first and why they didn't catch that phony, ridiculous accent. megyn: it was ridiculous. do you agree that there may have been violations of sort of the code governing radio operators? they may potentially have some slap on the wrist punishment -- >> yes. >> the answer's, no. i researched it. in england, if this happened in england, yes, they have to get the permission of the person who they put on the air. in australia, they don't have that same code requirement. >> they should have. megyn: wow. good debate, thank you. early edition of kelly's court today. meantime, new questions today about whether the united states is about to lose its status as the world's only

superpower. see who may knock us off the pedestal and what it means if they do. and up next, why one government agency is today trying to reassure americans that we will all still be here on december 21st. ♪ [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it mahelp lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just he to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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♪ megyn: well, even the monkeys know it's awfully cold outside in canada, so this little guy was very well prepared walking around a parking lot of an ikea store. look at him. [laughter] wearing a very warm coat, not to

mention a diaper. [laughter] you can imagine the customers could not believe their eyes. >> all the people were trying to, like, call it towards them, but it was very scared. it was darting all over the place. they were trying to get it away from cars, and then it became clear to us that none of the people there were actually the owner. megyn: well, the monkey apparently escaped his owner's car while they shopped. he was checked out by a local vet and is said to be just fine, and he is already a star on twitter. look at him, he's saying, get me out of this ridiculous coat. [laughter] who would do this to me? well, nasa is offering new re assurances today that doomsday is not upon us. trace gallagher with more from our west coast pure wrote. -- bureau. >> reporter: and how bad is the hysteria when nasa has to put a q&a on their web site explaining why the world is not going to end? this all stems from the mayan calendar and the date, december

2 21st, which marks the end of the 349-year mayan cycle, and conspiracists say a planet is headed directly toward earth, and when they align and collide, well, then, that's that. keep in mind, the doomsday catastrophe was supposed the happen back in may of 2003, but doomsdayers being who they are, didn't happen, so they just pushed the date ahead to december 21st of 2012. nasa says, and i'm quoting: the world will not end in 2012. our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012. nasa also had this to say, listen: >> and then there's folks whoty that nasa astronomers are actually hideing this information so as to prevent panic from the populace. can you imagine thousands of strong hers who observe -- astronomers keeping the same

secret from the public for several years? >> reporter: right. now, but in fairnesses, nasa did warn that on december 21st there would be a winter solstice, so the end of the world is not coming, but winter is coming, and in some parts of the country, you know, it's kind of the same thing. [laughter] megyn: i love the line about the lack of accountability if they're wrong. >> reporter: or right. if they're wrong, then who cares, right? megyn: thanks, trace. coming up, that group of chrysler workers who got attention two years ago boozing and smoking pot on the job? wait? you hear the upstate. update.

megyn: fox news alert, president obama set to speak at a detroit auto plant where he will push his plan to avoid the fiscal cliff through his recipe of higher taxes on the wealthy. we are also hearing reports that mr. obama may weigh in on the explosive right-to-work fight that is raging through the state of michigan right now. we're going to get to that in a minute. while back in washington new questions arising today about

plans for the start of the president's second term. wait until you hear this. brand new hour here of "america live." welcome, everybody, i'm megyn kelly. the white house press corps has sent a letter to the obama administration with questions about whether president obama's swearing-in could be kept from the press. katie pavlich is the news editor at town hall.com and with me now. katie, welcome back to the program. >> great to be here. megyn: so this is a surprising controversy. the constitution doesn't say that much about the inauguration, but it does tell us what day we're supposed to have it on, and this year that is triggering some controversy. explain. >> right. well, this year the inauguration is january 20th for president obama, and it falls on a sunday. and we never hold public inaugurations on sunday and so, therefore, what happens is they're supposed to hold a private inauguration on saturday or sunday and have the public, big, you know, party so to speak on monday.

but this year there's been some controversy over the white house kind of indicating there might not be press available at that private swearing-in at the white house, i believe, on that sunday. so it's causing a lot of problems. megyn: so normally, because we have had the january 20th date fall on a sunday in the past, and so normally what they would do is they would have sort of a private swearing-in because they have to comply with the constitution between the chief justice and the president, and the press would be there to document history in the making, and then the public would attend on the monday, and we'd, you know, have the big ceremony. >> right. megyn: but this year they're talking about excluding the press from the what will be the official swearing-in. the stuff they do on the monday after is just for pomp and circumstance. >> right. the last time this happened was in 1985 when ronald reagan was sworn in, and he invited lots of press to his private, so to speak, ceremony, and then they had the big party afterwards. but the white house this time around with president obama wants to simply issue an official white house photo to

the press and to the public after it's all done. and this kind of indicates a patten of how this white house -- pattern of how this white house has behaved with the press. remember, the white house was editing press pools back during the election with vice president joe biden. so it's an indication of kind of a pattern of behavior repeating itself on the inauguration. but, you know, this is something the people did, they put president obama in office, and i think that they deserve to see what actually goes down and what happens historically from a body independent of the white house. megyn: this is, i mean, you know, the white house has received criticism, as you point out, for being a little too involved in some instances in trying to edit the press, but this is a wonderful moment for president obama. i mean, this is something he fought very hard for. it's -- what is the -- and i know that the presidential inauguration committee is saying, look, nothing's been decided yet, and we're still looking into it. but they did send out a press release referring to a, quote,

private inauguration prompting the white house press corps to say you better let us in on it. what would be the reasoning for not allowing the press in there? >> a lot of journalists actually thought president obama's inauguration was closed press because president obama actually had to do his private ceremony twice after kind of stumbling through -- megyn: but that was the chief justice's fault. >> right, right, but it was still not going as smoothly as they thought it would so maybe this time around they just wanted to give the most perfect picture of president obama, his last inauguration in history, through the white house eyes. but like i said, i think the people who elected president obama deserve an independent body known as the white house press corps to document this. and like you said, have a great moment for the president of the united states documented in history. megyn: well, apparently, it's the same inaugural committee which says no decisions have been made. there's a report out today saying that they, officials from

that privately indicated to reporters that the january 20th event could be closed. it could be closed to the reporters and the cameras. it's crazy to think that we might not actually see the president take the oath. we'll see him take some fake, symbolic oath on the following monday, but people want to see the history in the making. katie -- >> yep. megyn: maybe i'll see you there. >> the history that we get to see is actually extra while they close this -- megyn: well, you've got to have the pomp and circumstance. that's part of american tradition. >> you do, yes. but the one that really matters constitutionally is the one they don't want us to see, and that's important to point out. megyn: it doesn't happen very often, but it falls on a sunday. katie pavlich, great to see you. >> thank you, megyn. megyn:, president obama is set o speak at this detroit auto plant, and that is where we're expecting his remarks, he's supposed to focus on his plans to avoid an automatic series of tax hikes on most americans and

spending cuts that could kick in three weeks from now. he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy instead. that addresses part of the problem but leaves much of it unaddressed, and that's led to criticism. we are also watching to see if he weighs in on the explosive right-to-work fight that is now raging through michigan. remember what we saw in wisconsin with the protests and so on? now there are questions today about whether the new site of union controversy is michigan as a law that would ban mandatory union dues in one of the most unionized states of the country takes center stage. you can watch the president's speech streaming live on foxnews.com. we will also be monitoring it, and we are going to discuss this latest right-to-work fight and what it means for our jobs crisis in just a few minutes right here. well, overseas iran saying that it has now decoded all of the data from a cia spy drone it captured back in 2011. that country's revolutionary guard has previously said that

it recovered some information from the unmanned craft, but this time technicians say they have broken through all of its encryption, revealing that the drone had not carried out missions over any nuclear facilities before it went down. well, north korea is extending the launch period for a controversial long-range rocket by a full week. its top scientists blame what they call a technical problem. north korea's government insists the rocket launch is part of a plan to put a satellite into orbit. however, the u.s. and our allies say the launch is really cover for testing missile technology that could be used to hit as far away as america. david piper live in bangkok, thailand, with the very latest. david? >> reporter: hi, megyn, yes. that famous phrase, houston, we've got a problem, well, the normally-secretive north korea has announced they've got a problem also with their planned missile launch over the next few weeks. now, what the spokesman for

north korea said was that there was a technical problem with their engine module, and they didn't really elaborate any further than that. but they did say they were extending the launch period from now until december 29th. and they added despite the problems, they were pushing ahead with final preparations for the launch. scientists say the problem could be the unusually freezing weather around the site at the moment which could stall the liftoff. some analysts also suggesting the delay may be, in fact, because its ally, china, has put pressure on by i don't pyongyanp the launch. but kim jong un seems to be pushing for the rocket test. remember, both his father and grandfather. pyongyang has called the planned launch a peaceful bid to push forward its space program and says it was the last wish of kim jung-il. and december the 17th is also an auspicious day for the north korean people.

the founder, kim jong-sun was born 100 years ago that day. if they do go ahead it will, of course, cause an international row. it's really an attempt to test its missiles to see if they could reach the u.s. if the launch is successful, north korea could deliver intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the u.s. mainland within a couple of years. pyongyang will face sanctions. the test also comes at a defensive time for both south korea and japan who hold elections this month. now, the rocket is planned to be fired along the west coast of the korean peninsula towards the philippines, and there are u.s. naval vessels in the vicinity to track any potential launch. back to you, megyn. megyn: david piper, thank you. is the united states about to lose its status as the world's only superpower? ambassador john bolton on a new warning for america and what it

means for our security. plus, a judge already infamous for sexting shirtless photos of himself has now touched off a new controversy, this time involving a woman who was appearing in his courtroom. and as we monitor the president's speech in detroit, we are waiting to hear if he takes a swipe at the right-to-work battle raging in michigan. how the rules will change for workers in such a big union state and how the white house figures in all of this. we'll debate. hi. i'm henry winkler.

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legislation that will bar unions from taking mandatory dues out of workers' paychecks, and many are asking how we got to this point in michigan of all states. joining me now, bernard whitman, former pollster for bill clinton and author of "52 reasons to vote for obama," or why people should be glad they voted for obama i guess after the fact, bernard, and also gretchen ham hamil. panel, welcome to you both. this is something. we've seen these right-to-work states becoming more and more popular, almost half the states in the night that are going right to work, but, gretchen, let me "street smart" with you on this -- start with you on this as a republican. >> well, you have to look at the past two years in michigan, some of the highest unemployment rates over the past two years reaching nearly 15% and currently 9.2%. so you see a state there that has an economy that is

struggling and wanting to put into place measures that would create some economic growth. and that's what in the right-to-work measure would do. it would allow companies to come there and make them more attractive to coming there and doing business in michigan. megyn: bernard, what does this say to you about the strength of the union movement in this country? >> well, you know, i think the bill should be called a right to get something for nothing rather than a right-to-work bill, and the reason why is that every single worker at a unionized facility is covered, and they get the protections of worker safety, they are assured a living wage, decent benefits, and it shows that we need to do more to educate the public on exactly what the benefits of the unions are. i will say this, you know, we have had union membership in the united states drop about half in the last generation from over 20% to just under 12%. but support for unions has actually gone up four points in the last few years, it now stands at 52%. so i think the governor is going to face some serious political

fallout, and i think the house and senate are as well, and we'd be smart to remember that the success of the auto bailout which saved almost a million and a half jobs and saved almost $100 billion and helped elect president obama particularly giving him wins in michigan and ohio, this was done through unionized workers. and so i think a union work force is a strong work force -- megyn: but, question: you can still join the union, right? all those great things bernard thinks, you can join the union, or in a right-to-work state, you cannot. >> absolutely. this gives the workers the freedom to choose what they want and if they want to join a union. to go back to what he said, that this would be something that the voters will have retribution against the governor, they had an opportunity this past november to actually vote against right to work with protect our jobs which was a ballot measure that would have had an amendment to block right to work as an amendment to the state constitution. they rejected that, 57-42.

in a state where they know unions, where unions were born, they rejected the ability to block this right-to-work amendment. so this shows that the public wants to have the opportunity to attract more businesses to the state and to have a more friendly environment. megyn: what do you think, bernard, john fund -- previously of "the wall street journal," now he writes for the national review -- was on our air earlier today, and he pointed out that neighboring state indiana which went right to work added 1,000 jobs dub -- 14,000 jobs in manufacturing last year. michigan lost 8,000, and it's numbers like that, michigan looking around at its neighbors, that led to support for this right to work that we saw at the ballot box in november? >> i don't really believe that's true. i think that, frankly, i will give the right-to-work folks credit. they do a great job of messaging this. but we ought to be honest here because right to work is nothing more than a back door attempt to cripple the unions' ability to

provide services and protect workers because it requires unions to continue to provide all the service that they do for the entire plant, yet only get dues from a certain amount of people who choose to be able to contribute even though they're getting all the benefits. so it really is an effort to try to put a stranglehold on unions -- megyn: let me jump in and ask you this, bernard, is there some hybrid compromise where the unions could provide the work, get the benefit from those who choose to be in the union but not provide the benefit for those who aren't paying for it? >> only if you have two contracts, contracts among unionized workers and among nonunionized workers. i don't think that is the right approach. what i do think the right approach is for unions to negotiate in good faith with management or knew mispalties in the case of public unions on increased cost sharing for retirement benefits and health care. that has to happen. that has given unions a bad name, and i think if we get some negotiations where we can insure that workers contribute more of a share for their health care

and retirement costs, then we're going to be able to flip the balance back to where it ought to be. megyn: one of the things people object to, gretchen, in the nonright-to-work states is how the union bosses choose to spend the fees, mostly on political activities, they say, as opposed to providing union benefits. >> yeah. i think this past election it showed just that, that unions played a big part in reelecting president obama, and that's why so many expect him to say something about this today. but union dues should be going to what they should -- to the workers, and they're not. they're going to political activities. and to what he said earlier about crippling and crippling unions, unions have actually crippled businesses. just look what they did to hostess. they're basically bankrupting that company, and because of it, we're not going to have twinkies or ho-hos this christmas. [laughter] megyn: bear gnarled, as much -- bernard, as much of a service they have performed, sometimes they make decisions that result

in blowbacks, they seem like self-inflicted wounds that may have led to some people thinking, well, maybe they're not as great as i thought they were. we covered earlier in the show the unions protesting outside of a cancer benefit, and, you know, we talked about earlier this year how they went on the lawn of a bank of america executive, and his son was cowering inside by himself, and they're chanting outside. you know, those kinds of things may not help their appeal to the grander public. >> sure, megyn. i think those types of strong-arm tactics are inappropriate whichever side of the argument you're on. but i think the greatest thing that unions can do to win back more support from the public and, frankly, from companies and government is to negotiate in good faith and recognize that the percentage of monies that workers are going to need to contribute for health care and retirement is going to have to increase. the numbers are there. we're going to do the same thing with social security, the same thing with medicare. and there should be. so we're going to have to have

greater cost sharing for these expenses, and i think unions taking a leadership position on that instead of fighting it tooth and nail are going to allow unions to function properly and gain support back from both management and municipalities. megyn: they're not going to undo this in michigan unless they undo the choices they made for their political leaders, and we shall see what they decide on that. bernard, gretchen, thank you both. >> thank you, megyn. >> thank you. megyn: speaking of detroit, a big development with a group of chrysler workers who were caught on camera drinking and smoking pot on the job as they made cars. hmm. we're joined live by the reporter who broke the story on the unbelievable update to it today. plus, a judge possibly redefining the term conflict of interest. the new scandal for this man just months after getting busted for sending a shirtless picture to one of his courtroom staffers. >> it went from being a summer fling and just something to do

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megyn: fox news alert now, what is likely a big payday for one woman in new york. we have video just back from a new york courtroom where a settlement was just announced in a high-profile civil suit. you may remember former imf president dominique strauss-kahn was accused of sexually assaulting a maid back in may of 2011, but after many problems cropped up with her story according to the da's office, prosecutors dropped all charges in the case. keep in mind, the standard in a criminal case is much higher than in the civil case, beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal, and can usually preponderance of the evidence -- meaning just 51%

more likely than it is unlikely that it happened -- in civil court. well, she pressed ahead with her civil suit against him, and some sort of deal has been reached. that's not totally surprising. usually, they pay to make these things go away, but, i mean, there were a lot of questions about whether this was a whole scheme by this woman concocted with others to try to shake this guy down knowing who he was. and so we're trying to find out what we can about the details of this deal. ♪ megyn: and now to a michigan courtroom and a new controversy involving a judge. we've told you about this judge before. he's in detroit, his name is wade mccree, and he got into some trouble earlier this year after sending a shirtless photo of himself to a courtroom employee. now the judge is suspended after claims that he had an affair with the woman who also happened to be a plaintiff in his court. we used to refer to that as a conflict of interest back when i used to practice law. a judge needs to not only be

impartial, but have the appearance of impartiality, and usually when he's sleeping with opposing counsel, that's bad for your side, trace gallagher. >> reporter: you mentioned that shirtless photo, he was publicly censured by the michigan sate supreme court because he didn't take the issue seriously. a reporter said, hey, is this you? he said, yeah, that's me. that's the picture x now he's in a much bigger mess because he had that sexual relationship with the woman who was in his court for a child support case. listen to her. >> yeah. we had sex in the chambers very often. >> like, on his desk? >> on his desk, in the chair, the couch, you name it. >> reporter: she also claims the judge allowed her to help choose the sentence that he would impose on the ex-husband, and she showed our fox affiliate in detroit the text mails that support her claim. one of those says, and i'm quoting here: okay, the math

will be based on his failure since being placed on probation, but if you're right, the threat of going to jail will loosen his pursestrings. well, the ex-husband, as you might imagine, is not very happy about that. listen. >> look at this. i mean, it's basically telling -- he's basically listening to her to set me up. i mean, it's a set-up. i can't believe this, man. this is my life right here. they played with my life. >> reporter: yeah. while the affair was going on, the woman claims that she and the judge bought a house together, that she got pregnant, the judge filed for divorce, but his wife wouldn't grant it to him unless the woman got an abortion. she said she wouldn't. the judge then accused her of stalking him, and the judge has been asked by this reporter -- and he's not saying much about it. listen. >> judge, you said you'd give her anything if she aborted the baby, so why'd you call the prosecutor on her? what did she do wrong?

sir, you're a criminal judge. is what you did criminal? hey, come on, talk to me, judge. >> reporter: judge not commenting. judge, by the way, as you said, megyn, suspended. legal experts think he's probably done. judges don't get three strikes. two the, you're probably pretty much out. megyn: this is giving me a headache. i was going to comment on the shirtless photo like why do men, why do they think this is what we want, but the story got even more bizarre from there, and i don't -- yeah, why? just don't do it. this isn't what we want. ladies, am i wrong? this does not make us want to be with you. it makes us think you're a anymorerod. unless i'm married to you, don't send me that. >> reporter: why is my picture while you're going on these rants? can you take my picture down? [laughter] megyn: i'm just saying. i think it's a guy thing. i don't mean to bring up sensitive topics, but two words: brett favre. we'll leave it at that. [laughter] thanks, trace.

google it. i mean, actually, don't. just trust me. he did something he shouldn't have done according to some lady. well, moving on, some of our top intelligence analysts are today warning that the u.s. is about to lose its status as the world's only surpower. ambassador john bolton's here live to weigh in next on who, if not us? plus, we've got ann a groupf chrysler workers who got national attention two years ago when a tv news crew caught them on tape drinking and getting high on their lunch breaks from a rather important job, making your cars. >> you know, the government spent a lot of money bailing you guys out, and you're coming out here on your lunch. break drinking like this? where are you guys going, man? [ loud party sounds ] hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've gotine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat.

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>> it is a far-flung and testing operation but the u.s. navy is handling humanely and effectively. though russia has perpetrated one of the most disgraceful deceits in the history of international relations the united states will continue to respect the charter of the united nations and its fleet will honor the ordinary rules of decency but let this be known, the u.s. blockade against defensive arms shipments to cuba will continue until the russians abandon their nefarious build-up of missile sites on the island. megyn: the cuban missile crisis may have been the high point of america's struggle with russia to be

the world's dominant superpower. and the united states has come to own the title pretty much by itself in the recent years. but a new report shows that dominance may be in danger and the u.s. could lose its status as the world's only superpower. am boos door john bolton, former united nations ambassador. i don't know that we. the new report from the national intelligence council, from within the office of national intelligence, james clapper, said the u.s. will not longer be the only world superpower in the next 18 years by 2030, why not? >> let me say this the exercise by the nic, national intelligence council which happens almost every year is a complete and it other waste of time, talent and resources. we have a lot of educated, knowledgeable, dedicated

hard-working people in the intelligence community that can do a lot for the united states. this has nothing to do with why we need them there. this is like throwing darts and it's basically worth about that. and --. megyn: that will conclude our time with ambassador bolton this afternoon. thank you for being here. all the best. just for the sake of, you know, i don't know, fun, let's talk about it anyway. i mean they did it. they thought it was necessary and they say it is not so great news for us. >> well, the issue of whether america is in decline absolutely or in relative terms is obviously a critical issue. it just doesn't have anything to do with the skills of the people on the national intelligence council compared to people in academia, in think tanks, at the state department, the defense department, a lot of other places. american decline is something that we hold in our own hands and in my personal view we are pursuing policies now,

domestic, economic policies and international policies that are taking us into decline. but that's something we can reverse with elections. that is not something that's ininevitable or written in tablets of stone. these are decisions we make and that our elected leaders make. that is one reason why projecting what the united states strength will look like in 2030 is such a complete waste of time. if you will forgive me. megyn: the scary thing is it's not like one of those thoughts where, okay, everybody who is on the earth now will be dead by the time this happens. that is in the relatively, you know, not-too-distant future. but i wanted to ask you because the criteria they use to assess who will be the most powerful country or region on earth is gdp, population size, military spending and technological investment. obviously we've been struggling on gdp for a number of years now since the recession. our growth has been really

anemic. our population size, we've had, it was a record low birth rate last year. people are not feeling that optimistic. military spending, they want you to spend more to think you will be more of a superpower. we're not spending as much. technological investment we're trying there. are these really criteria that make a superpower? >> they are some of them but i think you also have to look at what the report says about other countries and their projections forward are close to being straight lines from what they have seen in the recent past and i think that is very treacherous. take india which they project to be a major power in 2030. not reflecting the real economic difficulty india has had over the past several years in terms of their economic growth. the report talks about brazil but they have a saying in brazil. they say brazil is the country of the future and always has been. so why, why that will change between now and 2030 is open to question.

and even china where there is undoubtedly been extraordinary economic growth since market principles were put into play partially. i think most close observers of china think much their economic data is simply falsified so that projecting economic or military or political strength based on data that is substantially made up is a pretty treacherous business. megyn: they say asia will surpass north america and europe combined by 2030. you mentioned china, india and brazil. it also concludes collapse or sudden retreat of u.s. power would extend in period of global anarchy. we have that going for us, ambassador. thanks for weighing in. >> anytime. megyn: see you soon. it was national attention when cameras caught chrysler workers drinking and getting stoned on their lunch break and went back to make cars. this is not just any workers. this was the chrysler plant president obama picked up on

the auto industry multibillion-dollar bailout. so it was especially controversial. in minutes the eye-opening update with what is happening with these now-fired workers today. >> you know, the government spent a lot of money bailing you guys out and, you coming out here on your lunch break drinking like this? where are you guys going, man? i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia.

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>> 13 employees fired. two suspended without pay for a month. chrysler making no bones about it. these guys broke their rules. acting on a tip we received from inside chrysler's jefferson north assembly plant we watched as day after day employees left for lunch and headed to a local park to consume alcohol and smoke. >> hey, guys, hate to be a buzz kill but shouldn't you guys be building cars? the video talk of detroit became the talk of the nation. you know, the government spent a lot of money bailing you guys out and, you coming out here on your lunch break drinking like this? where are you guys going, man? chrysler wants everyone to know they're not taking this lightly. chrysler group has completed its investigation of the jefferson north employees recently suspended for inappropriate conduct during their lunch period. it has been determined that 13 employees engaged in

behavior that violated the company's standards of conduct and these 13 employees were discharged today. two remaining employees will receive a one-month disciplinary layoff without pay. fox 2 has learned the two employees suspended were the driver and passenger seated directly behind him in this green jeep. the statement goes on. as is evidenced by the swift action taken in this matter, it should be clear that chrysler group will not tolerate such behavior and will continue to evaluate its protocals to insure that something like this does not happen again. less than two months ago president obama stood on the floor of the very plant where these men worked and told them this. >> i want all of you to know i will bet on the american worker any day of the week. [cheers and applause] >> in its statement chrysler wants to make sure that confidence wasn't misplaced. it is unfortunate that the actions of a few people have called into question the reputation of more than

51,000 very proud, hard-working chrysler group employees, grateful that the american and canadian taxpayers gave us a second chance. we take that responsibility very seriously and will work to restore the public's faith. megyn: well, now an arbitrator has said, all of those guys get their jobs back, period. in a statement chrysler says it does not support that decision, but it would like to move on. robe wolchak is the reporter you saw in the clip. he broke the big story. we're joined by dan calabrese, contributor to the "detroit news" and editor-in-chief of cain tv which is collection of inspirational and political videos from former presidential candidate herman cain. unbelievable, rob. let me start with you. what, what happened? >> well, the guys went to arbitration and the arbitrator favored the guys, the workers. so the uaw-backed arbitrator

gave them their jobs back. megyn: all of them? >> we have video of them. all of them. we have jobs back. we have video going into the liquor store, buying the booze, shrugging down the drinks. we had garbage cans. we had everything. guy throwing the bottle. seems pretty clear-cut. they got their jobs back. all 15 original guys suspended. two were suspended for a month. 13 were canned. they all got jobs back. they're back to work as of right now. at the factory right now building jeeps. megyn: is chrysler or the uwa releasing any information how the arbitrator came to that decision? >> well, they're saying that is a personnel matter. so these personnel matters. we don't know if they're getting back pay. megyn: they might be getting back pay!? >> i don't know that but that is question thrown at me a lot. i don't know if that is the case or not. chrysler wouldn't answer that question, but i never know what could happen.

in this situation, well you go ahead. megyn: i'm just wondering whether we're going to get any information about how that union contract was written? how they defined termination for cause, such that this did not fall within it? >> well, it certainly did fall within the guidelines of the uaw and chrysler. they don't allow people to drink on the job. if you notice --. megyn: that's good. >> in the statement they talk about this happened during their off-duty time. that is their their off-duty time. so i'm guessing that it had something to do with they were on unpaid lunch. megyn: they went to back work after, didn't they, rob? >> you are absolutely correct. they did go back to work. you know they would have a buzz going back to work. megyn: dan, dan? >> yes, megyn. megyn: i used to practice labor and employment. i used handle some of these cases. can it really be we're now

at point getting high and hammered on your lunch break and going back to build peoples automobiles is not cause enough to justify a termination? >> i think, i think we're at the point where if you don't jump through all the right hoops, and you have a unionized workforce, you could find yourself in that situation. i think that there are some hints in chrysler's statements as to what may have gone wrong here. you will note that they had made the point, or they had made the claim anyways because of rob's report, they felt they were put in, quote, unquote difficult situation. megyn: i love that. >> and yeah, it seems to me, what i think happened is that they went ahead and fired these workers right away after the report for pr purposes. normally when you have a unionized workforce, you've got a process thaw go through. you've got hearings. all this you have is it. i think chrysler didn't want to risk any kind of negative pr. they went ahead and fired them probably knowing full well there would be a

grievance and that it would go to arbitration and they might lose. and there are hints in the statement that they made, actually i think on friday, to the effect now they just want to move on. they're tired of the process but i think they probably knew what the outcome of this might be. megyn: rob what we're referring to in the statement, we don't agree with the decision of the arbitrator but unfortunately the company was put in a very difficult position because of the way the story was investigated and ultimately revealed to the public. so, really i think we know whose fault it is. >> it is all your fault, rob. >> yours for shining a light on the conduct. you put chrysler in very awkward position. >> i did put chrysler in awkward position, no two ways about it. it is really workers fault. they are the guys that did it. there are a lot of people working in the factory and i'm hearing from the people in the factory right now, majority of people that i have been hearing from that work in the factory are not really thrilled that these guys are coming back. megyn: they gave them all a black eye. >> the people in the factory

don't want the guys working in there. megyn: majority of the workers are hard-working people who don't get hammered on the lunch break and go back and build our jeeps. they took a beating as well in the public. i want to talk about whether this is the new state? we've been talking about unions in this program as michigan is now a right-to-work state and this is where this happened, in michigan. i will pick up on that and how this story plays in right after the break. we'll carry you guys over. stay with me. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet.

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>> 13 employees fired, two suspended without pay for a month. chrysler making no bones about it, these guys broke their rules. megyn: but have their jobs back anyway thanks to the arbitrator who has been taking a look at this dispute. rob is the reporter you just saw in the clip. we're also joined again by

dan calabrese. dan, let me ask you, we talked earlier about michigan becoming a right-to-work state which is surprise to many, this is the birthplace of unions. this is the united auto workers. this is detroit. and, you know, there is a question about whether this type of story has gotten into the mind of people in michigan, this and others like it, where they said, you know what? let's open the door to change and to choice. >> you know, i think the thinking is this kind of story is in the minds of business owners who may be making a decision about whether they want to locate in michigan. do you want to come into a state where you run the risk of the uaw coming in and, compelling your workers to become members --, if there is majority vote, they can compel everybody and then finding a situation like this? do you want to have a workforce where you could have 13 employees who you find out are operating heavy machinery drunk or stoned and you can not fire them? that absolutely plays into

the decision-making of business owners when they're trying to decide where to go and, governor snyder and the legislature in mesh fan recognized that has become an impediment to job creation in this state. megyn: makes you wonder about the potential liability exposure for chrysler. if these guys ever repeated that behavior now they're back on the job and chrysler had notice and told by an arbitrator they had to put them back on the job, where would that go? what kind of exposure do they have for god forbid problems that would result? i want to ask you, rob. chrysler gave the written statement how it is your fault. that is my editorializing but has the uaw said anything about this? >> uaw hasn't said anything. they released a statement after the very first story. they never talked to me once since then through the last couple years. i don't think they want to have anything to do with me. they did talk to me, i went down to one of the union halls, probably, i don't know, four or five months ago when one of the workers was hired back.

because one worker went through this process already. i went to one. union halls i was not really a welcome guy there as you can imagine. megyn: wow, guys -- >> even though i'm a union member myself. not uaw but aftra. megyn: let's hope this isn't your lunch break and you're not following their example. thanks so much for being here. >> thanks for having me. megyn: interesting discussion. we'll be right back. [ mother ] you can't leave the table

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